NAC – Antibiofilm and anti-aging?

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      Harrison
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        2 pts

        NAC is often prescribed by naturopathic doctors to patients with chronic bacterial infections, as it is proven to help dissolve bacterial biofilms. You’ll also find NAC in many OTC antioxidant products. See a pubmed abstract, then the article below.
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        Biofilms and infections of the upper respiratory tract.
        Pintucci JP, Corno S, Garotta M.
        Source
        U.O.C. Otorhinolaryngology, City Hospital, Vimercate, Italy. pintucci.jeanpierre(at)libero.it

        Abstract
        Biofilms are microbial communities consisting of bacteria that either are self-reproducing on biological surfaces or are present in the lifeless environment. Biofilms are quite diffuse entities frequently found in human pathological conditions. The formation of bacterial biofilms involves mainly the contamination of artificial medical devices, such as valves and catheters, and their direct implant on mucous membranes, with subsequent development of chronic or recurrent infections. Bacterial biofilms show a complex organization consisting of bacterial cells adherent to a surface and surrounded by a large extracellular matrix mostly made up of polysaccharides and proteins.

        The resistance observed in biofilms does not appear to be genotypic; instead, it is due to multicellular strategies and/or to the ability of each cell, contained inside the biofilm, to differentiate into a protected phenotypic state which tolerates the antibiotic action. In fact, biofilms are subject to changes following their recurrent exposure to antimicrobial agents, thus incrementing their resistance. Biofilms play an important role in otitis media, sinusitis, chronic cholesteatomatous otitis media, tonsillitis and adenoiditis, thus demonstrating that adenoidectomy may be helpful to children suffering from such a morbid conditions.

        It is presently estimated that biofilm formation is involved in at least 60% of all chronic and/or recurrent infections. In addition, 30% of the exudates developing in the course of otitis media has shown to be positive for the presence of biofilms; likewise biofilms have been found in tonsillar crypts and in odontostomatologic infections as well. Studies have been carried out on both the use and the efficacy of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) in biofilm breakdown. It has been shown that NAC, used at different concentrations, is able to reduce bacterial adhesion in several anatomical districts.
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        Scientists slow ageing process

        (UKPA) – 20 hours ago
        Scientists have discovered how to slow down the ageing process and the breakthrough was made by researchers hunting a cure for a lethal childhood disease.

        It is hoped a new treatment they developed may help millions of newborns and lead to greater understanding of how the damaging effects of ageing could be prevented.

        The treatment works by combining existing medicine with an over-the-counter dietary supplement, N-acetyl cysteine, to repair or reverse damaged cells.
        It was developed during a study into progeria – a premature ageing disease that affects children causing them to age up to eight times as fast as the usual rate. Professor Chris Hutchison, a member of the Biophysical Sciences Institute at Durham University, said further trials were needed before an effective drug treatment could be established.

        He said: “What we have discovered is a means of slowing down the ageing process in children that have premature ageing disease. In the long term that almost certainly has an implication for normal ageing.

        “In the short term, we are trying to find interventions for children with significant disabilities. We are using a careful approach that will look at patients with progeria to see if there’s a model that can be used for wider medicine.

        “It would be great to find a way to help relieve some of the effects of progeria and to extend the children’s lives, whilst also finding a way to help increasingly ageing populations in many parts of the world.

        “The findings are at a very early stage but they show the potential for helping people to live more comfortable and less painful lives when they reach 70 and 80 years of age and beyond.”

        Dr Leslie Gordon, medical director for the Progeria Research Foundation, said: “Dr Hutchison’s study has not only confirmed basic cellular defects in progeria, but has also identified potential ways to improve those defects. This type of biological science is how progress towards treatments and a cure for children with progeria will advance.”

        The first results of the 18-month study, led by Durham University, are published in the journal Human Molecular Genetics.

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